I was cheated out of top EU job, rival tells court

Date: 12/04/01

Candidate claims 'irregularities' in selection process

By David Cronin

A LEGAL challenge is being mounted over alleged irregularities in the appointment of the highest-ranking official in one of the EU's youngest institutions, the Committee of the Regions.

The unsuccessful Greek candidate for the post of the committee's secretary-general, Spyridon de Athanassios Pappas, claims he was unfairly treated during the selection process last year because a dossier circulated to its executive board gave incomplete details about his previous work experience.

In an appeal to the European Court of First Instance, Pappas says the decision to award the lucrative 'A1' grade job to Italian Vincenzo Falcone should be annulled because a conflict of interests may have arisen.

Falcone had already been the acting secretary-general since the previous autumn and, his rival contends, therefore had an administrative role in the procedure.

Pappas, a former head of both the consumer policy and communication directorates in the European Commission, maintains that crucial information was omitted from the version of his curriculum vitae given to the executive board.

He also claims that an internal group involved in the initial assessment of the 29 applicants for the position decided that Falcone did not have a sufficient knowledge of French and English but that the Committee's president, Belgian conservative Jos Chabert, had insisted he was short-listed.

Insiders at the Committee of the Regions say the action will be fully defended, but stress that Falcone has no personal involvement in the case.

The institution's response to Pappas' claims, which will be lodged with the court soon, will make it clear that the secretary-general had no role in the administrative procedure leading to his appointment.

"As to Falcone's linguistic abilities, he speaks better French than a lot of French people," said a CoR staff member. "People should perhaps be questioning the role of the unions in this - they have been involved."

Nevertheless, the 222-member assembly - comprising members of local authorities from across the EU - has been mired in controversy since its inception in 1994.

In the mid-1990s, the European Court of Justice twice declared its staff recruitment policies, under which officials secured their posts after attending interviews rather than sitting European civil service exams, illegal. Two fonctionnaires were dismissed as a result.

More recently, the Committee invoked the 'golden handshake' clause in the EU staff regulations to remove Falcone's predecessor, Dietrich Pause. Described by one source as 'a Bavarian control freak', Pause was given a lump sum of €33,000 in early 2000 and paid between 76% and 85% of his €130,000 annual salary for the remainder of the year.

Pause can now enjoy his full pension entitlements as he recently celebrated his 65th birthday.

Although still considered a 'poor relation' of the Parliament and Commission, the Committee has gradually been given a greater role in EU decision-making.

The Amsterdam Treaty saw the number of policy areas requiring its mandatory consultation before new laws can come into effect rising from five to ten. These areas include employment, social policy, health, the environment and the development of trans-European infrastructure.

A legal challenge is being mounted over alleged irregularities in the appointment of the highest-ranking official in one of the EU's youngest institutions, the Committee of the Regions.